[Mb-civic] "How Curious George Escaped the Nazis"

[Jim Burns]

A change of pace....!
____

"How Curious George Escaped the Nazis" 

By DINITIA SMITH 
Published: September 13, 2005 
TheNew York Times 

Curious George is every 2-year-old sticking his finger into the light
socket, pouring milk onto the floor to watch it pool, creating chaos
everywhere. One reason the mischievous monkey is such a popular
children's book character is that he makes 4- to 6-year-olds feel
superior: fond memories, but we've given all that up now. 

In the years since the first book was published in the United States in
1941, "George" has become an industry. The books have sold more than 27
million copies. There have been several "Curious George" films,
including an animated one featuring the voice of Will Ferrell that is
scheduled for release this February, and theater productions, not to
mention the ubiquitous toy figure. Next year, PBS will begin a Curious
George series for pre-schoolers. 

But in truth, "Curious George" almost didn't make it onto the page. A
new book, "The Journey That Saved Curious George: The True Wartime
Escape of Margret and H. A. Rey" (Houghton Mifflin), tells of how
George's creators, both German-born Jews, fled from Paris by bicycle in
June 1940, carrying the manuscript of what would become "Curious George"
as Nazis prepared to invade. 

The book's author, Louise Borden, said in a telephone interview from
Terrace Park, Ohio, that she first spotted a mention of the Reys' escape
in Publishers Weekly. "But no one knew where they had gone from Paris,
the roads they took, the dates of where they were, the details," she
said. 

Her account, intended for older children, is illustrated in whimsical
European style by Allan Drummond, and includes photographs of the Reys
and wartime Europe, as well as H. A. Rey's pocket diaries and transit
documents. 
For her research, Ms. Borden combed the Rey archives of the de Grummond
Children's Literature Collection at the University of Southern
Mississippi, interviewed people who knew them and traced their journey
through letters and postmarks. 

Hans Reyersbach was born in Hamburg in 1898 into an educated family, and
lived near the Hagenbeck Zoo, where he learned to imitate animal sounds,
as well as to draw and paint. During World War I, Mr. Reyersbach served
in the German Army; afterward, he painted circus posters for a living.
After studying at two German universities, he went to Rio de Janeiro in
the mid-1920's, looking for a job. He wound up selling bathtubs on the
Amazon. 

Margarete Waldstein, who was born in 1906, also in Hamburg, had a more
fiery personality. After Hitler began his rise, she left Hamburg to
become a photographer in London. In 1935, she too went to Rio. Mr.
Reyersbach had first seen her as a little girl sliding down the banister
of her family's Hamburg home, and now they met again. They eventually
married, and founded an advertising agency. Margarete changed her name
to "Margret" and Hans changed his surname to "Rey," reasoning that
Reyersbach was difficult for Brazilians to pronounce. Crucially, the two
became Brazilian citizens. 

For their honeymoon, they sailed to Europe, accompanied by their two pet
marmoset monkeys. Margret knitted tiny sweaters for them to keep them
warm, but the monkeys died en route. 

The Reys ended up in the Parisian neighborhood of Montmartre, where they
began writing and illustrating children's books. In 1939, they published
"Raffy and the 9 Monkeys." Mr. Rey drew the illustrations, and his wife
helped to write the stories. Hans initially had sole credit for the
books, but eventually Margret's name was added. "We worked very closely
together and it was hard to pull the thing apart," she later said. 

Hans was a fanatical record keeper, listing expenses and details about
their work in tiny pocket calendars. In 1939, he began a story about the
youngest monkey in "Raffy," who was forever getting into trouble but
finding his way out. It was called "The Adventures of Fifi." That
September, war broke out. The Reys had signed a contract with the French
publisher Gallimard for "Fifi" and other stories, and in a stroke of
luck received a cash advance that would later finance their escape. 

By the time the Germans marched into Holland and Belgium in May 1940,
the Reys had begun a book of nursery songs in both French and English.
"Songs English very slowly because of the events," Hans wrote in his
diary. 

With refugees pouring into Paris from the north, Mr. Rey built two
bicycles from spare parts, while Margret gathered up their artwork and
manuscripts. They then joined the millions of refugees heading south,
while German planes flew overhead. 

The Reys found shelter in a farmhouse, then a 
stable, working their way by rail to Bayonne, and then to Biarritz by
bicycle again. They were Jews, but because they were Brazilian citizens,
it was easier to get visas. One official, perhaps thinking that because
of their German accents they were spies, searched Mr. Rey's satchel.
Finding "Fifi," and, seeing it was only a children's story, he released
them. 

They journeyed to Spain, then to Portugal, eventually finding their way
back to Rio. "Have had a very narrow escape," Mr. Rey wrote in a
telegram to his bank. "Baggage all lost have not sufficient money in
hand." 

The couple sailed to New York in October 1940, and "Curious George," as
Fifi was renamed - the publisher thought "Fifi" was an odd name for a
male monkey - made his first appearance the following year. 

The Reys wrote a total of eight "Curious George" books; Hans died in
1977, Margret in 1996. The ensuing "George" books were created by
writers and illustrators imitating the Reys' style and art. 

"Like Hans Reyersback and Margarete Waldstein," Ms. Borden concludes,
"the little French monkey Fifi would change his name, and it would
become one to remember. " 

© 2005 The New York Times